Alternate Paths to Graduation

In this report, Mike DeNardo takes us to an alternative high school that gives dropouts a second chance.

by KYW's Mike DeNardo

Edwin Acevedo admits to being the class clown at North Catholic. He transferred to Kensington High, where he didn't fit in, either:

"Not paying attention, cutting class, and I fell into a pit. And it was real hard to get out of that pit. And eventually, it was like, I go to school and do nothing. I can do that at home."

So Edwin dropped out for a few months. Deep down, though, he knew he needed an education. Edwin enrolled in the Fairhill Community High School in North Philadelphia:

"A lot of people call this school a second-chance school. This is my last chance school."

Fairhill is a privately run, accelerated program, one of seven in the city that gives dropouts another chance to earn a diploma in two years.

Here you won't find students sleeping in class. Principal Brandon Grodnitzky sees to that:

"We enforce that. So I'll walk around and I'll grab a kid if I see his head on a desk. And I'll ask him what's wrong. But generally speaking, he should be working. I don't really care why. He needs to be working."

There are 230 students here. Grodnitzky says the small environment helps students like Edwin thrive where they couldn't in a traditional setting:

"So far we've graduated 102 students. Which means 102 former dropouts were able to get their high school diploma."

But Fairhill also has a waiting list of 400.

(Photo by KYW's Mike DeNardo)